Britain Offers 1,000 Troops, 25 Tanks in ‘Show of Force’ Against Russia

NATO Plans Massive 'Joint Exercise' in Poland

British Prime Minister David Cameron has confirmed his government has offered an armored battle group to be sent to Poland later this year as part of a massive planned “show of force” against Russia.

The armored battle group would include some 1,000 soldiers, along with 25 tanks and 40 armored fighting vehicles. Britain’s Defense Ministry presented it as part of an effort to “re-assure our NATO Baltic allies.”

The Poland exercise appears to be part of NATO’s announced “readiness action plan,” which aims to build up military forces in Eastern Europe, and to speed reaction time of Western European nations to a war with Russia.

There’s no indication that an actual war with Russia is likely anymore, though hawkish rhetoric from months ago surrounding the Crimean referendum and its subsequent Russian annexation has many military leaders in NATO salivating at the idea of a “new Cold War,” with the same run-away military spending as the last one.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.